FIRST YEARS OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
One of the greatest efforts to which the industry and powers of man
can be directed is to change a lonely uncultivated wilderness into an
enclosed and fruitful country,--to occupy with civilised human beings
and comfortable dwellings those wilds which have hitherto been nearly
deserted, or at best but scantily and occasionally inhabited by savage
barbarians. The colonisation of New South Wales by the English has been
one of the most successful of these efforts; and certainly never before
did the change effected by industry so rapidly make itself visible in
the face of the new country. But, although the settlement of this colony
may now be most certainly pronounced to have been a very successful
experiment, it was by no means without hazard, and disappointment, and
suffering, to those who were first engaged in it. Indeed it would appear
to be the lot of infant colonies to cope with difficulties known only
to first settlers in uncultivated lands; and while the enterprising
colonist has to endure and struggle against these early trials, his
children or grandchildren, or often the stranger who has made a
favourable bargain of his property, are the persons who reap the reward
of his toils. It must assuredly be a subject of interest to every
inquiring mind to trace the feeble beginnings of an infant colony,
accompanying it through all its variations of hope and despondency, of
good or ill success, until it is at length conducted to a state of
greatness and prosperity quite unexampled, when the shortness of its
duration is considered. And since that colony is our own, since Britain
is, for several reasons, unusually concerned, both morally and
politically, in the welfare of New South Wales, it cannot but be useful
as well as interesting to inquire somewhat concerning the past history,
previously to our entering upon the present state, of that settlement.
In the year 1770, Captain Cooke, in his first voyage, had touched upon
the eastern coast of New Holland, at a bay which, from the number of
curious flowers that were there found growing wild, received the name
of Botany Bay. About sixteen years afterwards, when the American war
had closed up the great outlet by which the mother country had been
accustomed to get rid of the worst of its population, it was resolved
to form a colony for this purpose elsewhere. The coast of Africa was
thought of, but wisely abandoned; and at length Botany Bay was the spot
selected by the English government, which despatched, in 1787, the
_Sirius_ and the _Supply_, with six transports and three store-ships,
having on board 565 men and 192 women, convicts, besides 160 marines,
with their officers, some of their wives, and the necessary crews for
working the ships. Provisions for two years were taken out, tools,
agricultural implements, and other articles deemed necessary were also
furnished, and the little fleet was placed under the command of Captain
Phillip, the future governor of the intended colony. Some live stock was
obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, and plants and seeds likely to be
useful were procured likewise at that place, (then under the Dutch
government,) and at Rio Janeiro. In eight months and a week the voyage
was, with the Divine blessing, completed; and after having sailed 5021
leagues, and touched at both the American and African continents, they
came to an anchor on January 20th, 1788, within a few days' sail of the
antipodes of their native country, having had, upon the whole, a very
healthy and prosperous voyage. Botany Bay did not offer much that was
promising for a settlement, since it was mostly surrounded by very poor
land, and water was scarce.[82] The governor, accordingly, went in
person to examine the two neighbouring harbours of Port Jackson and
Broken Bay, and upon drawing near to the entrance of the former the
coast looked as unpromising as elsewhere, and the natives on shore
continued shouting, "Warra, warra,"--Go away, go away. Captain Cooke,
passing by the heads of Port Jackson, thought there might be found
shelter within for a boat but Captain Phillip was agreeably surprised at
finding there one of the finest harbours in the world; and since the
goodness of the soil and the supply of water appeared to be sufficient,
it was resolved to fix the new settlement in one of the coves of this
large and beautiful inlet. The spot chosen was near a run of fresh
water, which stole silently through a very thick wood, the stillness of
which was then for the first time interrupted by the rude sound of the
labourer's axe; and fifty years afterwards so great a change had taken
place here, that the lowest price of crown land was then 1,000_l._ an
acre, and in eligible situations sometimes a great deal more.[83]
[82] It happened that the two French ships of discovery under the
unfortunate La Perouse came into the harbour of Botany Bay just as
the English were finally quitting it. The French stayed there nearly
two months, and after they left that harbour they were never again seen
by any Europeans, both vessels having been lost.
[83] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. p. 23.
The royal commission appointing the governor was read, together with the
letters patent establishing courts of justice; and the behaviour of the
convicts soon rendered it needful to act upon these, for, within a month
of their landing, three of them were tried, found guilty, and severely
punished. The ground was begun to be gradually cleared, a sort of farm
was prepared to receive the live stock, and a garden for the plants and
seeds; and, in obedience to the orders of the government at home, the
_Supply_, commanded by Lieutenant King, was sent to Norfolk Island, some
few days' sail to the northeast of Port Jackson, for the purpose of
forming a colony there in which the flax of New Zealand might be
cultivated. With respect to the first progress of the colony at Sydney,
it was very slow, in consequence both of the idleness and ignorance
of the great majority of the colonists, to say nothing of their
wickedness. In spite of all the efforts of the governor to prevent it,
misunderstanding soon began to arise between the convicts and the
natives, and it seemed impossible in an infant colony to put a
sufficient check upon some of the unruly spirits belonging to the former
class, while, at the same time, the thievish temper of the natives began
very early to show itself, and to provoke injuries from men possessed of
fire-arms. It must be owned, however, that proper regard was not always
paid to the rights of the poor savages; and even so late as in the year
1810, a person charged with shooting at a native and wounding him, was
tried simply for an assault; whilst another, who had committed a similar
offence against a European was tried on the same day for his life![84]
In the beginning of May, not four months after the arrival of the
British ships at Port Jackson, and at a time when death and disease were
making sad havoc among the settlers, it was found needful to cut short
the life of one very juvenile offender by the hand of justice. James
Bennett, a youth of only seventeen years of age, was executed for
burglary, and died confessing that the love of idleness and bad
connexions had been his ruin. Soon after this, three convicts were
killed, and a fourth dangerously wounded, by the natives; and upon
inquiry it was found that two of them had robbed these people of a
canoe, an act of injustice which was, no doubt, the cause of their
death. The celebration of King George III.'s birthday, on June the 4th,
gave an opportunity to the evil-disposed to commit several robberies,
and two of these afterwards suffered death for their offences, while
another, who had gone into the woods, was proclaimed an outlaw. For want
of any overseers or police, except those taken from their own class, the
convicts were getting beyond all discipline; and so utterly reckless and
improvident were some of them, that they would consume their weekly
allowance of provisions by the end of the third or fourth day, and trust
for their supply during the rest of the week to the chance of being able
to steal from others that were more provident.[85] One of these degraded
creatures is stated to have made up his week's allowance of flour (eight
pounds) into cakes, which having devoured at one meal, he was soon after
taken up, speechless and senseless, and died the following day. Among
a population like that of which we are treating, while crimes were
lamentably common, conviction was comparatively rare. There was so much
tenderness to each other's guilt, such an acquaintance with vice and the
different degrees of it, that, unless detected in the fact, it was next
to impossible to bring an offence home to the transgressors. And with
respect to their intercourse with the natives, though the convicts who
suffered from them generally contrived to make out themselves to be
in the right; yet, even upon their own showing, every accident that
happened was occasioned by a breach of positive orders repeatedly given.
In New South Wales, no less than in every other country, obedience to
lawful authority was proved to be the safest and best way, after all;
nor could that way be forsaken with impunity.
[84] See Barrington's History of New South Wales, p. 171. See, too,
another instance at p. 385.
[85] This conduct was so common, that, when provisions became scarce,
the supply was issued _twice_ in the week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Amid the mass of moral corruption, which the British ships had thus
imported into the coasts of New Holland, the only hope of infusing
health and purity was from religion. But, unhappily, the age in which
that expedition left the English shores, was certainly not a religious
age; if there was less _hypocrisy_ then than there now is, certainly
there was less _real piety_. In the great towns of the mother country,
population and wealth were allowed to make rapid strides, without a
single thought being entertained of applying a portion of the increasing
wealth of the nation to the spiritual instruction of its increasing
population. If there was no room for the poorer classes of society at
the parish church, it was thought they might go to the meeting-house;
and if there was no room for them there, they might stay at home on
the Lord's day and be idle; it was doing no worse than many of their
betters, in a worldly sense, were constantly in the habit of doing.[86]
While notions and practices of this nature prevailed at home, it was
not to be expected that any very extraordinary attention would be paid
to the religious instruction of the convicts and other settlers in New
South Wales. Yet since, even then, it would have been thought shocking
to have left a large gaol, with 757 prisoners in it, altogether
destitute of the offices of religion, so it could not have been expected
that the same number of convicts would ever have been cast forth as evil
from their native land, and their souls left to perish on the other side
of the globe, without a single chance, humanly speaking, of receiving
those blessings of forgiveness and grace, which Christ died to procure
for all men. But, whatever might have been thought before hand, or
whatever may have been the immediate cause of such neglect, it
positively appears, that, "when the fleet was on the point of sailing,
in the year 1787, no clergyman had been thought of," nor was it without
a strong appeal to those in authority from one whose conduct in this
instance is worthy of all praise, WILBERFORCE, aided by the interest of
Bishop Porteus with Sir Joseph Banks, that the Rev. William Johnson was
appointed chaplain.[87] From whatever cause this oversight may have
arisen, whether it was intentional, or (what is more likely) merely the
consequence of forgetfulness and carelessness, it speaks pretty plainly
for the religious indifference of the government. However, the colony
was, happily, not permitted to be founded without any one present to
administer the sacraments and ordinances, and enforce the duties of our
holy religion among the first settlers and convicts.[88] By Divine
Providence, acting through the instrumentality of man, the British
nation was spared the sin and shame, which it had well nigh incurred,
of casting forth from its own shores a vile mass of uncleanness and
corruption, and forgetting at the same time to place amongst it the
smallest portion of that good leaven by which alone its evil might be
corrected. Accordingly, one chaplain[89] was sent out to officiate among
about 1000 souls, who were at first dispersed in eleven ships, and more
than two-thirds of them were in a state of extreme spiritual need,
inasmuch as they had been guilty of gross and flagrant offences. And
thus, thanks to the zeal and good feeling which had gained a victory
over the supineness of government, the discharge of religious duties on
the Sunday was never omitted at Sydney, Divine service being performed
in the open air whenever the state of the weather would permit. All
seems to have been done by the chaplain which could be effected under
circumstances of great discouragement.[90] When our blessed Redeemer
sent forth his disciples, he sent them by two and two, and how
encouraging, in the midst of an evil world, is the conversation or
counsel of a christian friend that is dearer than a brother! But the
chaplain of New South Wales had no such assistance to fall back upon; he
was left alone and single-handed--yet not alone, for Christ is ever with
his authorised ministers, to fight against the mighty power of evils by
which he was surrounded. He visited the sick and the convicts, going
from settlement to settlement, and from hut to hut; travelling to the
more distant stations, that were afterwards formed, as far as he could
reach, and assembling as many as he could for divine service. With what
success these efforts were attended we shall be better able to judge
hereafter; but one truth must be borne in mind, which is, that, in the
very nature of things, evil will make itself more prominent and noticed
in the world than good; so that, whilst it may almost appear from the
history of the colony, as though there was not one godly man left in it,
we shall do well to remember that there may have been, nevertheless,
many a one who was profited by the ministry of Christ's Church among
them, many a Naaman who had been taught to forsake the evil thing which
he once delighted in worshipping, many a knee which had not bowed to
Baal, and many a mouth which had not kissed his image.[91]
[86] The blame of these lax and unworthy notions must not fall on the
laity alone; many of the clergy in those days deserve to have a full
share of it; but while we see and lament the faults of that generation,
we must not forget to look after those of our own, and to correct them.
[87] See Judge Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales,
p. 1.
[88] Certainly some of the means employed for the moral improvement of
the convicts were very strange ones. For example, we are told, on one
occasion, that some of them were "ordered to _work every Sunday_ on the
highway as a punishment!" See Barrington's History of New South Wales,
p. 184. See likewise, p. 246.
[89] In 1792, a chaplain came out with the New South Wales Corps; and
in 1794, Mr. Marsden, a second chaplain, arrived in the colony. If any
person is desirous of seeing how easily the faults and failings of
individuals may be turned into arguments against a church, he has only
to refer to Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, chap i. "The Dark Age."
[90] See the authorities quoted by Burton on Religion and Education in
New South Wales, p. 6. According to this author, the chaplain's name was
_Johnston_, not _Johnson_, as Collins spells it.
[91] See 2 Kings v. and 1 Kings xix. 18. See likewise, in proof of the
good conduct of some convicts, Collins' Account of New South Wales,
p. 42.
However, it cannot be denied that the greater number of the settlers
of every description were but little disposed to listen to the words
of eternal truth, although they were ready enough to listen to any
falsehood which promised well for their worldly interests. Thus, before
the first year of the colony had expired, it was pretended and believed
that a _gold mine_ had been discovered. The specimens of this which the
impostor produced, were manufactured out of a guinea and a brass buckle;
and his object in deceiving was, that he might get clothes and other
articles in exchange for his promised gold dust, from the people
belonging to the store ships. But his cheat was soon discovered, and all
that his gold dust finally procured him, was a severe flogging, and
before the end of the year he was executed for another offence. Yet it
would not be far from the truth to state, that the British had indeed
discovered a gold mine in Sydney, by working which with industry,
ability, and perseverance, enormous riches have been obtained. When
the story of the mine was invented, the land around Port Jackson was
unproductive, and the hills wild or barren, but in little more than
fifty years from that time the imports into the Port of Sydney amounted
in 1840 to L2,462,858, while the amount of goods exported from the same
place during that year was valued at L1,951,544.[92] Where was there
ever a gold mine that was known to make a return so profitable as this
to those that worked it?
[92] See the Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. 2, p. 107.
The great object, and generally the most difficult to be obtained,
in forming altogether a new colony, is to make it begin to produce a
sufficiency to supply its own necessary wants. But, although this object
was kept steadily in view from the very first in New South Wales, yet
were there many hindrances to be overcome, and much suffering to be
endured, before it was finally gained. The land near the new settlement
is none of the best for farming operations, and persons at all
acquainted with agriculture appear to have been very scarce among
the settlers and convicts; besides which, the prevailing idleness was
so great, that it seemed almost impossible to make the men exert
themselves; and, perhaps, nothing less than the want and privations,
which they subsequently endured, could have had this effect. A regular
supply of provisions had constantly been issued from the government
stores, and the convicts, with that short-sighted imprudence by which
the vicious are generally distinguished, had never given themselves the
trouble of looking forwards to the necessity of raising a supply of food
for themselves. Meanwhile, although farming operations were going on but
slowly, and not very successfully, the stores were being lessened at a
rapid rate, not only by the ordinary issue of provisions, but likewise
by rats and pilferers. Six soldiers, and an accomplice who turned king's
evidence, were discovered, after eight months of impunity, by means of a
key which was left by one of them in the lock, upon his being disturbed
by the patrol; and these men, having betrayed their trust as sentinels,
and carried on a regular system of plunder for the purpose of indulging
themselves in vice and drunkenness, were all executed. In April 1789 the
_Sirius_ returned, bringing the first cargo of provisions received by
the colony, which was, however, only equal to four months' supply at
full rations. But full rations were not to continue much longer in the
infant settlement. In November, 1789, very nearly two years after the
arrival of the colonists, it was found needful to reduce the allowance
to two-thirds of every sort of provisions, spirits alone excepted. No
alteration was made in the allowance of the women, who were already
upon two-thirds of the full ratio of a man; and it was eagerly and
confidently expected that, after having waited so long, it would be but
a short period more before an ample supply of all that was necessary
would be received from the mother country.
In November, which is one of the summer months of the Australian
calendar, the little harvest of the colony was got in. At Rose Hill,
(or Paramatta, as it is now called,) where the best land had been found,
upwards of two hundred bushels of wheat, about thirty-five bushels of
barley, besides a small quantity of oats and Indian corn, were
harvested; and the whole of this produce was intended to be kept for
seed. At Sydney, the spot of cleared ground called the Governor's Farm
had produced about twenty-five bushels of barley. But the evil spirit of
thieving was still as rife as ever among the convicts, and the young
crops of wheat were the objects of plunder (especially after the
reduction of the allowance,) notwithstanding the immense importance of
preserving seed sufficient to crop a larger breadth of land for the
following year. In the very beginning of 1790 the provisions brought
from England wholly failed, having just about lasted during the two
years for which they had been calculated; and the colonists then became
totally dependent upon the slender stock brought for them by the
_Sirius_ from the Cape of Good Hope. Great anxiety began to be felt for
an arrival from England, and a flagstaff[93] was erected on the south
head of the entrance to the harbour of Port Jackson, so that a signal
might be there made upon the first appearance of the expected vessel. In
hope of this welcome event the eyes of the colonists were often directed
thither, and often must their hearts have grown sick from the tedious
delay of the hope in which they indulged. Certainly, it is a remarkable
instance of the hard-heartedness and corruption of man's nature, that,
even under these circumstances, with the horrors of famine daily in
view, left alone on a remote and desolate coast, and, as it appeared,
forsaken by the rest of the world, they did not profit by the lessons
thus forcibly brought before them, nor listen with any good effect to
the warnings taught them by sorrow and trouble, those great and
awakening preachers of righteousness.
[93] The signal-colours were stolen within a year afterwards by some
of the natives, who divided them among the canoes, and used them as
coverings.
During the anxious interval that succeeded, everything that was
possible to be done for the public advantage was done by the governor.
Occasionally, a fair supply of fish had been brought in, and accordingly
a boat was employed to fish three times in the week, and the whole
quantity that was taken was issued out in addition to the rations, which
were equally distributed to every person, no distinction being made in
favour of the governor himself, who, when he had a party at Government
House, always requested his guests to bring their bread with them, for
there was none to spare;--in February, 1790, there were not four months'
provisions in the colony, even at half allowance. These circumstances
required thoughtful and vigorous measures to be promptly taken, and
since Norfolk Island was a more fertile spot, and much better supplied
with provisions at that time, it was resolved to send some of the
convicts thither, unless the expected supplies from England should
arrive before March 3d, the day fixed for their departure. 116 male and
68 female convicts, with 27 children, were thus sent away, and the
colony wore quite a deserted appearance. Every effort was made to
prevent the destruction of live stock, which was very rapidly taking
place, and towards the end of March a yet further reduction was
necessary in the allowances, which were then to be given out daily; an
alteration at the same time was made in the hours of public labour, and
the afternoons of each day were given up to the people to work for
themselves in their own gardens. The fish that was caught was also
issued out as part of the allowance, but at a more liberal rate,--ten
pounds of fish being deemed equal to two and a half pounds of pork. In
the midst of this necessity it is gratifying to find that the witness of
the Church, though, as usual, too little heeded, was yet not silent;
"attention to religious duties," _i.e._ to Divine worship on Sundays,
"was never omitted, and service was performed on Good Friday."[94]
[94] According to Captain Tench, who is quoted by the Roman Catholic,
Dr. Ullathorne, "Divine service was performed at Sydney only one Sunday
in the month," and "the Rev. Mr. Johnson was the best farmer in the
country." What truth there may be in these insinuations, or in the
charge against Judge Burton of enlarging upon a Romish priest's being
a convict, while he disguises the same truth when it applied to an
English clergyman, must be left to others better acquainted with the
facts to determine. See Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, p. 5.
But the early settlers of New South Wales were taught by sad experience
the truth of that common saying that bids us to "welcome the sorrow that
comes alone." It had been arranged that the _Sirius_ should return
immediately from Norfolk Island, and then should sail direct for China
to procure a supply of provisions immediately. But Providence never
permitted the _Sirius_ again to float upon the quiet waters of Sydney
Cove. The vessel was lost upon a reef at Norfolk Island, after having
landed most of those on board, and the others escaped with their lives,
but the ship was totally destroyed. Disgraceful to relate, it was set on
fire by two convicts who had been allowed to go on board on the second
day after the wreck, in the hope of saving the live hogs, but these men
got drunk with the liquor they found, and set the ship on fire in two
places, nor was it without great difficulty that they were themselves
rescued. This sorrowful intelligence was brought by the _Supply_,--the
only remaining hope of procuring relief for the wants of the colony.
After various precautionary measures had been taken, the _Supply_ was
despatched to Batavia, under orders to procure, not only a quantity of
provisions, but also to hire a vessel, which should accompany the
English ship on its return, and should bring to New South Wales a second
cargo of necessaries. Meanwhile, the allowances were yet further
reduced, and the governor, having reserved 300 bushels of wheat for
seed, gave up 300 lbs. weight of flour, which was his own private
property, for the public use; besides which, the expedients of fishing
and shooting wild animals were tried, but with no great success. Crime
appeared rather to increase than to diminish with the increase of
temptation and opportunities; and at this awful period of trial for the
whole population, it was judged necessary to execute one criminal. A
female convict was at this time robbed of her week's provisions, and
she was left to subsist upon the bounty of others, since it was
impossible to replace them from the public store; and if it was a cruel
offence of _one_ to rob the poor woman, it reflected credit upon _many_,
that, under such circumstances, she was preserved from starvation.
At length, after six months of indescribable anxiety and privation,
the expected signal was made, and a boat was sent off (in very rough
weather) to direct the ship how to get safely into the harbour. It was
the transport-ship, the _Lady Juliana_, which had been no less than ten
months upon the voyage, and which brought news of the almost total
destruction of another ship, the _Guardian_, which had been sent out
previously, and well supplied with every thing necessary for a rising
colony. _The Lady Juliana_ brought very little addition to the supplies,
compared with the additional number of consumers, above 200 female
convicts, which she had with her; these had been sent upon the reckoning
of the _Guardian's_ stores arriving beforehand; and if this had been
permitted, probably the colony would never more have experienced want.
It was unfortunate, at a time when a cargo of any thing but of convicts
would have been serviceable, that scarcely any thing else should arrive.
Before the end of June, however, another ship laden with provisions
arrived, after having very narrowly escaped a wreck off the heads at the
entrance of Port Jackson; and upon the welcome arrival of this supply
the immediate scarcity ceased. Three other vessels shortly followed,
and things were thus for a time restored to their former course; but
repeated trials, arising from want of provisions, were afterwards, at
intervals, the lot of the colony. In 1794, on the very day when the
doors of the provision-store were closed, and the convicts had received
their last allowance which remained, the signal for a sail was made;
and it was the third day before the two vessels then in sight could be
got into the harbour, but their arrival brought comparative abundance to
the starving population of 3,000 people, who were beginning seriously to
reckon up how far their live stock would go towards the supply of their
necessities. Several other similar seasons of famine have been recorded,
and it is curious and instructive to look back upon the day of small
things in a country abundant as New South Wales at present is in the
necessaries, comforts, and even luxuries, of life.
The state of health in which many of the convicts reached their place
of exile, and the numbers of them which never reached it at all, were
deplorable facts, proving too truly that men may be found capable of
doing any thing for the hope of profit. A certain sum per head was paid
by the government for each convict, and thus the dead became more
profitable to the contractors than the living were; for the expenses of
the former were less, while the stipulated payments were the same in
both cases. Out of three ships 274 convicts died on the voyage,[95]
and when they had landed, there were no less than 488 persons in the
hospital. Neglect like this of the miserable creatures who had broken
their country's laws, most justly awakens our feelings of indignation;
and these are righteous feelings, but let them not be confined to the
_bodily_ neglect to which, in a comparatively few instances at first,
the convicts were exposed. Let us recollect, with sorrow rather than
indignation, how many thousands of these unhappy creatures have, down to
the present time, been left to perish, in a spiritual sense, and that,
likewise, from motives of profit, for fear of the outcry of want of
economy being excited in a wealthy nation, if sufficient means of
spiritual instruction were provided for our banished fellow-countrymen!
[95] Things are now, happily, better ordered. "There are frequent
instances of vessels arriving from England without having had a
single death during the voyage" to Sydney.--LANG'S _New South Wales_,
vol. i. p. 58.
Soon after the arrival of the three transports, those of the convicts
that were in tolerable health were settled at Rose Hill, and the town
now called Paramatta was laid out; and the commencement of a system of
free settlers was provided for, although the retired soldiers, those
parties for whom it was originally intended, were not usually very
persevering or successful in their attempts at farming. In September,
1790, Governor Phillip received that wound of which mention has been
made elsewhere;[96] and this season the dry weather was so excessive,
that the gardens and fields of corn were parched up for want of
moisture. Five convicts left Paramatta in a boat, and got out of the
harbour without being discovered, having provisions for a week with
them, and purposing to steer for Otaheite![97] A search was made for
them, but in vain, and beyond doubt they must have perished miserably.
At various times, the convicts, especially some of the Irish, set off
to the northwards, meaning to travel by the interior of New Holland
_overland to China_; and many were either starved to death or else
killed by the natives, while pursuing this vain hope of escape from
thraldom.
[96] See "Bennillong," in chap. vi. p. 151.
[97] Another instance of like folly is mentioned by Collins, Account
of New South Wales, p. 129.
The next event of importance to the infant colony was the arrival,
towards the close of 1791, of what is called the _second_ fleet,
consisting of no less than ten ships, and having on board upwards of
2,000 convicts, with provisions and other necessaries. These ships came
dropping into the harbour at short intervals after each other, and their
arrival, together with the needful preparations for the additional
numbers brought by them, gave an air of bustle and life to the little
town of Sydney. Various public works and buildings had been carried on,
especially some tanks were cut in the rocks to serve as reservoirs in
dry seasons, and at Paramatta between forty and fifty fresh acres were
expected to be got ready for Indian corn this year. By his Majesty's
ship _Gorgon_, certain needful instruments and powers for carrying on
the government of the colony were sent, and amongst others the public
seal of New South Wales. Two or three of the vessels which had arrived
from England, were employed, after discharging their cargoes, in the
whale-fishery, and not altogether without success; so early did British
enterprise turn itself to that occupation, which has latterly become
most profitable in those regions. During this year, the governor for the
first time exercised a power which had only recently been given him, and
several convicts were, on account of their good behaviour, released from
their state of bondage, on condition of their not returning to England
before the term of their sentences had expired. Various allotments of
land were also given to those whose terms had already expired, and who
signified their willingness to become settlers in this new country. At
the close of the year 1791, nearly four years from the first landing of
the British in Port Jackson, the public live stock consisted of one aged
stallion, one mare, two young stallions, two colts, sixteen cows, two
calves, one ram, fifty ewes, six lambs, one boar, fourteen sows, and
twenty-two pigs. The cultivated ground at Paramatta amounted to three
hundred acres in maize, forty-four in wheat, six in barley, one in oats,
four in vines, eighty-six in garden-ground, and seventeen in cultivation
by the soldiers of the New South Wales Corps. Thus humble were the
beginnings, even after some time, of that wealth in flocks and herds
for which our Australian colonies are now so justly celebrated.
Very little, meanwhile, is recorded of the chaplain, Mr. Johnson, or his
doings, but that little is to his credit. He was, it appears, in the
habit of relieving from his own private bounty the convicts who were
most in need; and some of them spread abroad a report that this was done
from funds raised by subscription in the mother country; and upon the
strength of this notion, in the spirit which the poorer classes in
England too often exhibit, they chose to claim relief as though it were
their _just right_. This false notion was publicly contradicted, and Mr.
Johnson thought it necessary that the convicts should know that it was
to his bounty alone that they were indebted for these gifts, and that,
consequently, the partakers of them were to be of his own selection.
Another instance of the kindness of Mr. Johnson, and of the evil return
it met with, has also been recorded, and though it occurred some years
afterwards, in 1797, it may be noticed here. It happened that among the
convicts there was found one who had been this gentleman's schoolfellow,
and the chaplain, feeling compassion for his fallen condition, had taken
him into his service, and treated him with the utmost confidence and
indulgence. Soon afterwards, it was rumoured that this man had taken
an impression of the key of the store-room in clay, from which he had
procured another key to fit the lock. Mr. Johnson scarcely credited the
story, but at length he consented that a constable should be concealed
in the house on a Sunday, when all the family, except this person, would
be engaged in Divine service. The plan succeeded too well. Supposing
that all was secure, the ungrateful wretch applied his key to the door
of the store-room, and began to plunder it of all the articles he chose
to take, until the constable, leaving his hiding-place, put an end to
the robbery by making the thief his prisoner.
The attention of Mr. Johnson to his ministerial and public duties
appears to have continued in a quiet and regular way, but its fruits
were by no means so manifest as could have been wished. In 1790 he
complained to the authorities of the want of attendance at divine
service, which, it must be observed, was generally performed in the open
air, exposed alike to the wind and rain, or burning sun; and then it was
ordered that a certain portion of provisions should be taken off from
the allowance of each person who might absent himself from prayers
without giving a reasonable excuse. And thus, we may suppose, a better
congregation was secured; but, alas! from what a motive were they
induced to draw near their God. And how many are there, it is to be
feared, in our country parishes in England, whose great inducement to
attend their church is the fact that the clergyman generally has certain
gifts to distribute: how common a fault, in short, has it been in all
ages and in all countries for men to seek Christ from no higher motive
than that they may "eat of the loaves and be filled!"[98] In proof of
the single voice that was raised in the wilderness of New South Wales
being not altogether an empty and ineffectual sound, we are told that
in 1790, when the female convicts who arrived by the _Lady Juliana_
attended divine service for the first time, Mr. Johnson, with much
propriety, in his discourse, touched upon their situation so forcibly as
to draw tears from many of them, who were not yet hardened enough to be
altogether insensible to truth. Another instance of very praiseworthy
zeal was afforded by the voluntary visit of the chaplain of New South
Wales in 1791 to Norfolk Island, which small colony had never yet been
favoured even with the temporary presence of a minister of the Church of
Christ.
[98] Religion, of course, concerns all equally, only the guilty and the
wretched seem to be the last persons who can afford to reject its
consolations, even in this world. However, the conduct of those in
authority was pretty much on a par with that of the convicts, and it
was only when one of the earlier governors was told of but five or six
persons attending divine service, that "he determined to go to church
himself, and stated that he expected his example would be followed by
the people." See Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales,
p. 7.
But a yet better proof of the chaplain's earnestness was given,
after the colony had been settled for six years, in his building a
church,--the first that was raised in New Holland for the purposes of
christian worship. Even now, we often may hear and lament the ignorance
which chooses to reckon the _clergy_ as the _Church_, and which looks
upon the efforts recently made in favour of church extension, as lying
quite beyond the province of the laity; and this deplorable ignorance
was much more common in Mr. Johnson's days.[99] Accordingly, to the
disgrace of the colony and of the government at home, no church
was raised during six years, and when at last that object was
accomplished, it was by the private purse and the single efforts of
an individual,--the chaplain of the colony. The building was in a very
humble style, made of wood and thatched, and it is said to have cost Mr.
Johnson only 40_l._; but all this merely serves to show how easily the
good work might have been before done, how inexcusable it was to leave
its accomplishment to one individual. A few months before this necessary
work was undertaken the colony had been visited by two Spanish ships,
and it is possible that an observation made by the Romish priest
belonging to one of these ships may have had some effect towards raising
the first church built at Sydney. At the time when the Spanish ships
were in the harbour, the English chaplain performed divine service
wherever he could find a shady spot; and the Spanish priest observing
that, during so many years no church had been built, lifted up his eyes
with astonishment, declaring (truly), that, had the place been settled
by his nation, a house of God would have been erected before any house
for man. How disgraceful to the English nation, how injurious to our
Reformed Church, that an observation like this, coming from the lips of
one who belonged to a corrupt and idolatrous church, should be so true,
so incapable of contradiction! However, if the remark had any effect in
exciting the efforts of the Protestant chaplain, and in thus supplying
at length a want so palpable as that of a house of God in the colony, it
was by no means uttered in vain; and supposing it to be so, this is not
a solitary instance of our Church and her members having been aroused
into activity by the taunts and attacks of those that are opposed to
her.
[99] It would appear almost as though some men _will_ not see that
churches are not built for clergymen to preach in, and live (or starve)
upon the pew-rents, but for laymen to hear God's word and join in His
solemn worship.
Upon the opening of the humble building, which had thus tardily been
raised for the purposes of divine worship, and to consecrate which
according to the beautiful forms of our English church there was no
bishop in the colony, the chaplain preached a suitable sermon, we are
informed; but, if it may be judged from the scanty record that is
preserved of it, this discourse partook of the cold and worldly spirit
of the age in which it was delivered. Mr. Johnson began well with
impressing upon his hearers the necessity of holiness in every place,
and then lamented the urgency of public works having prevented the
erection of a church sooner. As though a building for the public worship
of Almighty God were not the most urgent of all public works in every
christian community! He next went on to declare, that his _only_ motive
in coming forward in the business was that of establishing a place
sheltered from bad weather, and from the summer-heats, where public
worship might be performed. The uncertainty of a place where they might
attend had prevented many from coming, but he hoped that now the
attendance would be regular.[100] Surely, the worthy chaplain might have
had and avowed a higher motive for building a house of God, than that of
keeping men from the wind, and the rain, and the sun; and, undoubtedly,
as the inconvenience of the former system was no good excuse for absence
from divine service, so neither could the comparative convenience of the
new arrangement be at all a proper motive for attendance upon it.
[100] See Collins' Account of New South Wales, pp. 223-4.
However, many allowances are to be made for Mr. Johnson, and it becomes
us, while we condemn the faults, to spare the persons, of the men of
that and of other past generations; especially when we look at our own
age, and see, notwithstanding the improvement that has unquestionably
taken place, how many conspicuous faults there are prevailing among us,
which those of future generations will justly pity and condemn. It may
be well, before the subject of the church raised by Mr. Johnson is
finally quitted, to acquaint the reader with its fate. In 1798, after
having stood only five years, it was discovered one evening to be on
fire, and, all efforts to save it proving useless, from the combustible
nature of the materials, it was consumed in an hour. "This was a great
loss," observes the historian of the colony, "for during the working
days of the week the building was used as a school, in which from 150
to 200 children were educated, under the immediate inspection of Mr.
Johnson. As this building stood alone, and no person was suffered to
remain in it after the school hours, there was not a doubt but the
atrocious act was the effect of design, and in consequence of an order
enforcing attendance on divine service." The governor, however, with
praiseworthy zeal, would not suffer a single Sunday to be lost, but
ordered a new store-house, which was just finished, to be fitted up
for a church. One brief observation may here be added. How powerful a
witness do the enemies of Christ's Church, and of our English branch of
it, bear to the usefulness and effect of its doctrine, even in its most
helpless and lowest condition, by the ceaseless and unscrupulous pains
which they take in trying to silence its testimony!
No apology is necessary for detaining the reader so long upon these
little details, since if the religious state and progress of an infant
colony be not an interesting feature in its history, what can we hope
to find in it that is deserving of the attention of a thoughtful and
well-regulated mind? But we return now to the temporal affairs of New
South Wales. The year 1792, which began with reduced rations of
provisions, was a time of great suffering and scarcity in the colony,
nor was it until the latter part of the year that any relief for the
wants of the settlers arrived. Meanwhile the mortality that took place
was very alarming, and notwithstanding the sickness that prevailed,
there was no abatement in wickedness and crime. At one time during this
year no less than fifty-three persons were missing, many of whom never
returned, having perished, no doubt, miserably in the woods, while
seeking for a new settlement, or endeavouring to find their way to
China! An execution for theft took place in January, and the unhappy man
declared that hunger had tempted him to commit the crime for which he
suffered. Many instances of profligacy among the convicts occurred, but
one stands forth distinguished by especial wickedness. A woman had been
trusted to carry to the bakehouse the allowance of flour belonging to
two others; and after having run in debt for flour taken up on their
account, she mixed a quantity of pounded stone, in the proportion of
two-thirds of grit to one of flour, with the meal belonging to the other
women.[101] Fortunately, the deceit was found out before the flour was
mixed with other meal at the bakehouse, and the culprit was sentenced to
wear an iron collar for six months. In April, a convict was killed by a
blow from the limb of a tree, which fell on his head as he passed under
it, and fractured his skull. He died on the spot, having earned from
those who knew him the character of being so great a reprobate, that he
was scarcely ever known to speak without an oath, or without calling on
his Maker to witness the truth of the lie he was about to utter. Are
these poor creatures, if may be again asked, to be cast out from their
own country, and left (as they too often have been,) to their own evil
devices and to Satan's temptations, without involving the nation that
has thus treated them in a load of guilt too fearful to contemplate?
[101] A similar scheme was to have been practised by some Irish
convict women, who were to have taken their part in a proposed mutiny
on board the _Marquis Cornwallis_ during the passage out, by mixing
pulverized glass with the flour of which the seamen made their puddings!
See Collins, p. 324.
Towards the end of the year 1792 the harvest was gathered in from
the 1540 acres of cleared ground, which were sown in the preceding
seed-time. The produce was tolerably good, and since no less than 3470
acres of land had already been granted to settlers, it was hoped that
before very long the colony might cease to be almost entirely dependent
for its support upon the precarious supply which it received from ships.
The colonists then learned by sad experience what many Englishmen in the
present day seem unwilling to believe, that _it is one of the worst
evils to be dependent upon other countries for daily bread_. In
December, the governor, Captain Phillip, left the colony from ill
health, having acted with much prudence and vigour during his
administration, and leaving behind him a respectable character; he
returned to England, where his services were rewarded by a pension of
400_l._ a-year, and he retired to Bath, at which city he died. His
activity in exploring the neighbouring country and discovering its
capabilities, his courage and firmness on many very trying occasions,
his steady opposition to every proposal of abandoning the settlement,
together with his general character, sufficiently entitle his memory to
regard and respect from those who are now living in New South Wales, and
reaping in comparative ease the fruit of that harvest which it cost him
and others great pains and many trials to sow.
Before the first Governor of New South Wales left that country, he had
the satisfaction of seeing its prospects of a future sufficiency of
provisions very greatly improved; and a work of charity, the hospital at
Paramatta, was completed in the month before that in which he sailed.
With the year 1793 began a new government, for as no successor had been
appointed at home to Captain Phillip, the chief power now came,
according to what had been previously provided, into the hands of
Major Grose, of the New South Wales Corps, who assumed the style of
Lieutenant-Governor. During nearly three years things continued in
this state; only Major Grose left the settlement, and was succeeded by
Captain Paterson; nor was it until 1795 that a regular successor to
the first governor arrived in the colony. In this period many things
occurred which were, no doubt, of the highest interest to the settlers
at the time, but few events which deserve our particular notice now.
A fire, which destroyed a house worth 15_l._, and thirty bushels of
new wheat;--the alternate scarcity and comparative abundance of
provisions;--the arrival or departure of ships from the harbour;--the
commission of the first murder in the colony, and other sad accounts
of human depravity and its punishment;--the gradual improvement and
extension of the colony;--the first sale by auction of a farm of
twenty-five acres for the sum of 13_l._:--these and similar subjects
occupy the history of New South Wales, not merely during the three years
that elapsed between Governor Phillip's departure and the arrival of his
successor, but also during the long period of gradual but increasing
improvement which followed the last event.
Yet, while the improvement of the little colony was evidently steady and
increasing, when its affairs are regarded in a temporal point of view,
in morals its progress appeared to be directly contrary; and, painful
though it be to dwell upon the sins and follies of men, whose bodies
have long since passed away to their parent dust, and their souls
returned to God who gave them, nevertheless, there are many wholesome
lessons of instruction and humiliation to be gathered from the history
of human depravity in New South Wales. One of the crying sins of the
mother country,--a sin now very much confined to the lower classes of
society, but fifty years ago equally common among all classes,--is that
of _drunkenness_; and it could scarcely be expected that the outcast
daughter in Australia would be less blamable in this respect than the
mother from which she sprang.[102] Accordingly, we find that as soon as
it was possible to procure spirits, at however great a sacrifice, they
were obtained, and intoxication was indulged in,--if such brutality
deserves the name of indulgence,--to an awful extent. Whether all that a
writer very intimately acquainted with New South Wales urges against the
officers of the New South Wales Corps be true or not, so far as their
dealings in spirituous liquors are concerned, there can be no question
that these mischievous articles became almost entirely the current coin
of the settlement, and were the source of worldly gain to a few, while
they proved the moral ruin of almost all, in the colony. But, without
giving entire credit to all the assertions of Dr. Lang, who deals very
much in hasty notions and exaggerated opinions,[103] we may sorrowfully
acknowledge that, if the convicts in New South Wales gave way in a
horrible manner to drunkenness and its attendant sins, the upper
classes, in general, either set them a bad example, or made a plunder of
them by pandering to their favourite vice. The passion for liquor, it is
stated by Collins,[104] operated like a mania, there being nothing which
the people would not risk to obtain it: and while spirits were to be
had, those who did any extra labour refused to be paid in money, or in
any other article than spirits, which were then so scarce as to be sold
at six shillings a bottle. So eagerly were fermented liquors sought
after, and so little was the value of money in a place where neither the
comforts nor luxuries of life could be bought, that the purchaser has
been often known, in the early days of the colony, to name himself a
price for the article he wanted, fixing it as high again as would
otherwise have been required of him. When the few boat-builders and
shipwrights in the colony had leisure, they employed themselves in
building boats for those that would pay them their price, namely, five
or six gallons of spirits. It could be no matter of surprise that boats
made by workmen so paid should be badly put together, and scarcely
seaworthy.
[102] Whatever may be the improvement of the middling and upper classes,
_nationally speaking_ the passion for strong liquor continues to bear
sway in the British islands to a deplorable extent. Lord Ashley has
stated in the House of Commons during the present session, 1843, that
there is good authority for estimating our annual consumption of
spirituous liquors at twenty-five millions sterling! Compare the _gross_
amount of the revenues of the English Church, about four millions, and
those of the _poor_ Kirk of Scotland, the _plundered_ Church of Ireland,
and the "voluntary" efforts of the hundred and one sects of Dissenters,
together with those of the Romish Church:--and what is the result?
Probably, nearly three times as much is spent in these islands upon
spirituous liquors as the whole cost of religious instruction of every
kind amounts to!
[103] Dr. Lang's opinion here is, however, confirmed by Judge Burton;
see p. 7 of his work on Education and Religion in New South Wales.
[104] Account of Colony of New South Wales, p. 235.
But, however commonly the standard of value might be measured by
spirituous liquors, yet it is evident that these, being themselves
procurable for money, could not altogether supersede the desire of money
itself. Hence arose those numerous acts of theft and depredation, that
improvident thirst after present gain, that total disregard of future
consequences by which many of the first inhabitants of the colony were
disgraced and ruined. The contagion of evil example forced its way into
Government House, and the steward of Governor Hunter became an awful
instance of the mischief of bad society. Against this he had been often
cautioned by his master, but to no purpose, until at length he was
discovered abusing the unlimited confidence which had been placed in
him, and making use of the governor's name in a most iniquitous manner.
At this discovery the wretched victim of evil communication retired to a
shrubbery in his master's garden, and shot himself through the head.
From the love of money, which no mean authority has pronounced to be
"the root of all evil,"[105] arose likewise that spirit of gambling,
which ended in murder on one occasion before the settlement had existed
more than six years; and which on many occasions was the manifest cause
of misery and ruin to those in whom this evil spirit had taken up its
abode. To such excess was the pursuit of gambling carried among the
convicts, that some had been known, after losing provisions, money, and
all their spare clothing, to have staked and lost the very clothes on
their wretched backs, standing in the midst of their associates as
degraded, and as careless of their degradation, as the natives of the
country which these gamblers disgraced. Money was their principal
object, for with money they could purchase spirits, or whatever else
their passions made them covet, or the colony could furnish. These
unhappy men have been seen to play at their favourite games for six,
eight, and ten dollars each game; and those who were not expert at
these, instead of pence, tossed up for dollars![106]
[105] 1 Tim. vi. 10.
[106] Collins' Account of New South Wales, pp. 243, 244.